“Saguru James Hakuba! How dare you not answer your phone! This is the fifth time I’ve called you this morning!”
Hakuba stared at the blurry iphone screen from where he was on the couch, stifling a yawn in the late afternoon light. “Mum…?”
“Were you up drinking? GOD!”
“Yes… I suppose…” He glanced at the table where the bottle of wine still was, now emptied, but left along despite everything else on the table having been cleared off. Baaya had already come and gone. And, apparently, so had Kaito. “Apologies, Mum, I had a guest over.”
“I know. Baaya’s already told me. Now, I’ve forwarded your itinerary…”
“Already told you?”
“Yes, you had a going away party, it’s very charming, but listen: your flight leaves Monday morning at 10:40. Don’t forget that it’s international so you’ll want to bring your passport of course, allow for extra time to go through security, and make certain that Watson has her travel needs met…”
“Monday?” Hakuba sat up.
“Yes! You’ve been dragging your feet so I went ahead and arranged everything for you. Don’t worry, I got you first class, and you’ve your priority boarding, and Baaya will take you to the airport… Do you have your things packed yet?”
“Mum, I haven’t even decided which school I’m going to!”
Marion sighed her most patient of sighs. “You have the weekend to pack, anything left we can just hire someone to take care of. Besides, you’ll be going back to finish up and–”
“Mum!”
“Saguru, I told you to take a GAP year, but did you want to listen? Noooo. It was always ‘no, Mum, I know you’re always right and have the best ideas, but I need to rush my education so that I can begin working like an adult and completely forget to enjoy myself because I’m a workaholic who can’t take a break and I don’t want or need self-discovery because I’m happy being miserable,’ right?”
Hakuba frowned. “Mum. You know that’s not how it is.”
“It is. Now go on. Get packing. I’ll see you at the airport, my love. I can’t wait to have you home again.”
“Fine…"
He’d really hoped to have more time before he went back to London. True, he would be coming back before the start of the semester, but all the same… Touring Cambridge and Oxford was just another step leading away from Kaito.
Perhaps he should just decide on Keio and be done with it…
But then…
Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair and looked at his phone. It was two in the afternoon. He could call… no. He shouldn’t be so clingy. The hesitation snowballed as the day wore on, and by the time he called, there was really nothing that could be done.
"Is everything all right?” turned into “I miss you.” and “I want to see you,” only to be followed with the difficult truth: he was leaving in three days. Less than, even. "Fifty-six hours, thirty two minutes… well, less, given security, but surely, there’s some… some time?“
The young detective looked at the packing yet to be done, the casework piled on his desk that needed to be turned in, and finally his car keys. If he hurried, perhaps…
But between work schedules and being called to fill in as an extra for first division and all else, time simply slipped away. "I’ll be coming back before summer ends…” he said, leaving off the part where he didn’t know when, or for how long.
Before he knew it, Hakuba was stepping out of a cab onto the walk in front of Tokyo International Airport. He shouldered his carry on, grimacing at the concrete burn over the left side of his body and took a moment to gather himself before going for his suitcase and Watson’s carrier.
He’d done this flight dozens of times. It was never pleasant, but it was nothing new to him at all. Hakuba patted his suit jacket, making sure that his wallet, passport, and pack of playing cards were in place, paid the driver, and started off toward the terminal, pushing past the crowds of foot traffic.
God, he hated that airport. Hated how he stood out like one of the tourists, hated that he was often so alone, hated that he had so much to keep track of all at once and a tight schedule to keep. Especially that morning; he’d overslept after getting home so late the night before due to the case he’d assisted with, and while they caught their culprit, Hakuba was running on so very little sleep, and wasn’t even sure he’d packed everything he’d needed to. It made for anxious travel, and he still needed to get Watson through security…
…he hadn’t even gotten the chance to say goodbye to Kuroba. But, hopefully, there would be time to call him and get a cup of coffee before boarding.
After a long, brisk walk, he got in line to check his luggage, double-checking that everything was properly tagged, then sent a text to Baaya to let him know that he was on schedule – if just barely. By the time the suitcase was away, Hakuba was anxious to get in the queue for security, keeping his bag and Watson’s carrier as close to him as he possibly could.
It took longer than it should have been with the additional clearance for his companion, and getting coffee with bird in tow wasn’t as easy as he’d hoped, but finally, finally, he found himself with just a few minutes to spare and took out his phone to make that call to one Kuroba Kaito, hoping that he would answer.
